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Salar (tank)
The Salar (سالار; "chieftain" or "leader") is a highly modernised Tabi'atstani version of the Soviet T-72 main battle tank. Development Development of the Salar began in 1984, and a preliminary design and the development of various subsystems were completed in 1986. Two prototypes were completed in 1989, and production began in 1995. With the completion of the development of the Salar in 1995, the Tabi'atstani Revolutionary Army Ground Force decided to begin work on an even more advanced version, the Salar-M. Preliminary studies had begun in 1991, and the first prototype was completed in 1997, with another two being built in 2000. The Salar-M was then accepted into service in mid-2003. Design The Salar is visually extremely similar to the standard T-72, although its dimensions are slightly different. It is 3.75 m wide, 2.21 m tall, 9.74 m long with the gun in the forward position, and has a 6.8 m long hull. It is also slightly lighter than the T-72B, weighing in at 44 tonnes compared with 44.5 tonnes. It also has a completely new turret that is chevron-shaped with rounded edges. The Salar's main armament is a 125 mm smoothbore gun based on the Soviet 2A46, but made with new materials and forging techniques that allow for higher continuous rates of fire and a longer barrel life. Like the original 2A46, it can fire APFSDS, HEAT, and HE-FRAG rounds, as well as a gun-launched ATGM. There is also a new autoloader that gives the gun a rate of fire of 10 rounds per minute. Aside from the main gun, there is also a 7.62-mm coaxial machine gun, and a 12.7-mm heavy machine gun mounted on the roof. 45 rounds of main gun ammunition are carried, whilst 600 rounds of 12.7 mm and 2,000 rounds of 7.62 mm ammunition are carried for the secondary armament. The vehicle is protected by composite armour of glass in plastic resin between two steel plates, with provisions for ERA built into the hull and the turret (Kontakt-5 ERA is often applied to the tank). There is also a 16mm steel plate welded on the glacis to provide further frontal protection. It is also fitted with spall liners and an automatic carbon dioxide fire suppression system, and has a collective NBC system. Twelve smoke grenade launchers are mounted on the turret, six on the left and right respectively, The Salar is powered by a 1,200 hp diesel engine, giving it a top speed of 70 km/h and a maximum range of 650 km. It can climb gradients of 60%, vertical steps 0.7 m tall, and can cross trenches 2.4 m wide. The Salar can ford water 1.3 m deep without preparation, and water 5 m deep with a snorkel. The suspension and running gear are retained from the T-72. The electronic equipment of the Salar is an improvement over the T-72's, with a thermal imaging system, laser rangefinder, and a digital ballistics computer coming as standard. Operational history Variants *'Salar' - Initial production variant *'Salar-A' *'Salar-M' - Upgrade with additional explosive reactive armour and upgraded communications, NBRC, optics, and fire control systems and new laser irradiation warning system and digital battlefield computer **'Salar-MK' - Commander's version of the Salar-M, with additional communication and navigation equipment Operators *'Tabi'atstan' **Tabi'atstani Revolutionary Army Ground Force - 1,214 Salar/-A, 1,410 Salar-M **Tabi'atstani Revolutionary Guards See also *Defence industry of Tabi'atstan Category:Tabi'atstan Category:Military of Tabi'atstan